Back in 1980, when the Seventh-day Adventist Church was, for the first time, discussing the idea of officially adopting a statement of Fundamental Beliefs, then General Conference president Neal C. Wilson floated an interesting idea that has captivated my imagination ever since I came across it in my doctoral research.
“The time never comes when any human document cannot be improved upon,” Wilson explained during the General Conference session being held in Dallas. “We feel that every 20, 30, or 50 years it is a very good thing for us to be sure we are using the right terminology and approach. Schools of theological thought are constantly changing. Certain terms mean today what they did not mean 50 years ago.” Seventh-day Adventists do not have a creed anyway, he reminded them, and “nothing is set in stone.”[i]
Therefore, it was good for the denomination to continuously revisit the way it articulated its theological understanding—not necessarily to make wholesale changes of its doctrines, but to make sure it was using the “right terminology and approach” which was in line with the “schools of theological thought” that were “constantly changing.”
Since then, Seventh-day Adventists have largely followed this counsel, as we’ve both revised the way we articulate existing beliefs and added others to our list of fundamental convictions.
I wonder, however, if perhaps it’s time—over 40 years after Wilson shared these reflections and when the denomination adopted its current list of Fundamental Beliefs—to think outside the box even more.
Rewriting the Narrative
I realize it may sound like a really radical idea, and I’m sure it’s not very likely, but I’ve daydreamed about adopting a “Fundamental Story” alongside “Fundamental Beliefs.”
Of all Christians, Seventh-day Adventists are perhaps the most primed to recognize the narrative quality of theology.
Going in this direction, I do believe, would better align with the “schools of theological thought” Wilson alluded to that are current in 2024 that perhaps weren’t in 1980. Many theologians today recognize the storied nature of human experience and have observed that the Bible itself is more of a narrative than a list of detached, abstract ideas. Humans, across all cultures and times, are story-telling people, after all—and stories are really the way we make sense of life. They do not merely illustrate life but help us make sense of it. “Stories,” N. T. Wright has thus proposed, “are thus located, on the map of human knowledge, at a more fundamental level than explicitly formulated beliefs, including theological beliefs.”[ii]
Of all Christians, Seventh-day Adventists are perhaps the most primed to recognize the narrative quality of theology. After all, probably our most influential theological work is not a “Systematic Theology” written in the halls of academia. It’s the “Conflict of the Ages” series, written by Ellen White, who placed our cherished doctrines within the framework of the “cosmic conflict” story, spanning the whole history of the universe, from before time began until its ultimate culmination—when the earth will be made new and God will dwell with His people here forever.
To this end, I tried my hand at developing a “Fundamental Story” for my weekly newsletter a few months ago.[iii] It’s very much a rough draft and no doubt leaves a lot to be desired, with many holes and oversights. But it’s meant simply to get the wheels turning and the conversation started.
Even still, I was pleasantly surprised by how many readers really appreciated it, with some requesting that I publish it as a little booklet that they could share with others. I do believe it connects with our most basic human instincts, explaining our theology in a dynamic, relevant, and integrated way, rather than leaving that theology abstract and static.
So without further ado, here’s one way I’d tell the “Fundamental Story”:
Before time began, before the universe existed, there was God—Father, Son, and Spirit, living together in eternal love, fellowship, and community. And then, long ago, God created everything—the stars, the planets, the galaxies—by the word of His mouth.
And then God created the earth—filling it with trees, flowers, birds, animals, and everything that has life—in six days. On the sixth day, as the crowning act of His work, He created man and woman in His image, and joined them together in holy union, inviting them to multiply and to care for each other and for all of creation.
On the seventh day, God rested from His work and extended this rest to humankind—a gracious and eternal gift from His heart of love.
God enjoyed communion with humankind, intending to live in perfect harmony with them and to have them live in perfect harmony with one another, only ever living by the principle of self-sacrificing, others-centered love.
But humanity chose selfishness over love, turning their backs on God and distancing themselves from each other. Love was replaced with selfishness; peace with shame; harmony with blame. They ran away from God and tried to hide themselves from His loving presence.
In taking this course, humankind followed the lead of Satan, who was a perfect angel in heaven, but who rebelled against God and questioned His trustworthiness and goodness. Instead of obliterating Satan, God chose to allow him to make his case to the entire universe, and to answer his charges only by love.
Thus, ever committed to the well-being of His creation, God vowed to rescue humanity from its selfishness and shame, and to restore the world and universe to a place of eternal harmony and love. He also promised He’d send a Rescuer to atone for their misdeeds.
He also called a people who were to live out the reality of His love and to announce and embody the principles of His kingdom. But they, too, failed over and over again, falling deeper and deeper into acts of exploitation and abuse. And they related to God as a master instead of a lover.
At last, God the Father sent Jesus—the Son—to perfectly embody His character and to make the ultimate sacrifice to save the world and restore love to the universe. He lived a life of complete selflessness, compassion, and grace. He healed the sick and explained the principles of His kingdom. And then He poured out His life unto death, forfeiting His own life for the sake of humanity’s.
This act both secured the salvation of humanity, and unequivocally demonstrated God’s character of love.
Despite this sacrifice, Jesus rose again on the third day, securing eternal victory over death and the grave.
Before returning to heaven, from where He could direct His continued work of reconciling the universe to Himself, He sent His followers out into the world to embody and announce His kingdom of love. They went with power and authority, breaking down all walls that separate, declaring God’s liberating victory, and setting up communities that reflected the communal heart of the triune God.
He also gave them His Spirit—which would both go before and accompany their efforts—and the story the Spirit inspired, written down by men and women in the pages of the Bible.
Sadly, after much progress, these communities started reverting to old patterns of living and thinking, setting up dividing walls and hierarchical structures. They turned salvation into a transaction, and utilized guilt and fear in the service of conformity and control.
After hundreds of years, God was able to raise people up to challenge these patterns of living and thinking, and to slowly start restoring the reality of His kingdom of love. Over time, more and more truth about His character was uncovered, and God began His final act of restoration, setting up a last showdown between those who have embraced His love and those who have habitually refused to surrender to it.
Alas, we await Jesus’s return, when He will raise to life all those faithful followers who passed before His second coming. Together with those who are alive and living by His love, He will bring them back to heaven, where they will learn God’s story with ever greater clarity.
It will be a time of recovery, clarification, and healing—until, at last, they are fully grounded in the truth of God’s faithfulness, ever convinced of God’s eternal love and the wisdom of His ways.
In the meantime, all those who refuse to live by God’s love will die, and Satan will be bound on earth for a thousand years. At the end of those thousand years, the wicked will be brought back to life and brought into an encounter with the full truth about God and His loving ways.
Along with Satan, they will admit, at last, that God was fully faithful and fully just, ever acting in the best-interest of others. They will acknowledge His eternal love.
And yet they will still refuse to align themselves with God’s love and they will try to overtake His kingdom. Out of love, God will mercifully wipe out Satan and all those who’ve fully and eternally embraced his selfish and abusive ways, never for them to have a conscious existence ever again—and never for selfishness or exploitation to ever rise again.
God will bring His people and His home back down to earth, and live with His people forever and ever and ever. There will be no more tears, sadness, and pain. There will be no more abuse and unkindness and death.
There will only ever be love, joy, and happiness. There will be togetherness, harmony, and creative bliss. All will recognize and acknowledge God’s eternal love, choosing to live by it for all eternity. And all will live happily ever after.
[i] “Seventh business meeting,” General Conference Bulletin, No. 5, Adventist Review, April 23, 1980: 9.
[ii] Wright, N.T., The New Testament and the People of God (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992), p. 38.
[iii] See https://shawnbrace.substack.com/p/once-upon-a-time. For an extended version of this story, see God’s Story and My Story, available for purchase at https://a.co/d/gmroUEB.